Friday, July 29, 2011

The Daring Bakers July 2011 Challenge: FRESH FRAISER!

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

So...what is a Fraiser?

To put it simply "fraise" is french for strawberry hence the "Strawberry Cake". However a French Fraiser is more than a simply strawberry cake - take a light chiffon cake, split it drench it in a delicious sugar syrup maybe flavoured, fill decoratively with strawberries and a light pastry cream and finish it off with an almond paste icing. And there you have it - a French Fraisier

This challenge came in our winter with strawberries still to arrive. Luckily by mid July the first of the strawberries had arrived in the shops however they were quite pricey. I left making the Fraisier until the end of July when I was able to source some cheaper strawberries. They were large and well flavoured!

The filling was a creme patisserie of sorts with one whole egg and lots of cream. I used delicious home made limoncello liqueur to flavour the creme.

Chiffon cake is a delightfully light sponge which absorbs the sugar syrup beautifully! To go with the limoncello creme I made a lemon chiffon cake using lemon juice in place of the water.

The recipe specified an 8inch (20cm) spring form cake pan but I found I only used a bit over half the cake mixture for this size pan. The remainder I bake in an angel food cake pan. When baked I support the upside down cake pan on glasses to allow the cake to hang as it cooled. (The pan is not greased so the cake can hold onto the pan). I'm not sure if this was necessary as it was not specified in the recipe but some other Daring Bakers had mentioned that the cake sank considerably after baking.

The one half of the cooled split cake in replaced into the clean cake pan which is line on the sides with paper and then drenched with sugar syrup. Mine was flavoured with the limoncello. And the halved

strawberries lined the edge. Fill the centre with creme and strawberries then top with the other half of cake equally drenched in syrup.

Traditionally this cake is finished off with almond paste. Not being able to find almond paste I made a simple lemon glace icing which actually complimented the cake wonderfully!

Line the bottom of an 8-inch (20 cm) spring form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons (45 ml.) of sugar, and all of the salt. Stir to combine.

In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly.

Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.

Put the egg whites into a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed using a whisk attachment on a medium speed, until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat on a medium speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks.

Using a grease free rubber spatula, scoop about ⅓ of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently. Gently fold in the remaining whites just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Removed the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Variations to the Basic Chiffon Cake:

Lemon Chiffon Cake

Ingredient Alterations:Reduce water to 1/4 cup (60 ml)Add 1/8 cup (30 ml) lemon juiceIncrease lemon zest to 1½ teaspoon (7½ ml) (5 gm)Remove the vanilla from the recipeDirection Alterations:Follow the directions, same as above, adding the lemon juice and zest to the oil, egg yolks and water in step 4.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Ingredient Alterations:Replace the full amount of water with orange juiceReplace lemon zest with the zest of one orangeRemove the vanilla from the recipeDirection Alterations:Follow the directions, same as above, adding the orange juice and zest to the oil, and egg yolks in step 4.

Pour the milk, vanilla, and salt into a heavy sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and scald, bringing it to a near boiling point. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, in a stand mixer add the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk to combine

Add the eggs to the sugar and cornstarch and whisk until smooth.

When the milk is ready, gently and slowly while the stand mixer is whisking, pour the heated milk down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture.

Pour the mixture back into the warm pot and continue to cook over a medium heat until the custard is thick, just about to boil and coats the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Allow to cool for ten minutes stirring occasionally.

Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk into the pastry cream a piece at a time until smooth.

Cover the cream with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator for up to five days.

In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for a few minutes to soften.

Put two inches (55 mm) of water into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat.

Measure 1/4 cup (2 oz/60 ml) of the chilled pastry cream into a small stainless steel bowl that will sit across the sauce pan with the simmering water, without touching the water.

Heat the cream until it is 120 F (48.8 C). Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the water bath, and whisk the remaining cold pastry cream in to incorporate in two batches.

In a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Immediately fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula.

Simple Syrup:

gluten free and vegan!
You may choose to flavor the syrup. One way is to use flavored sugar (for example: apple cider sugar, orange sugar, or vanilla sugar) or to stir in 1-2 teaspoons of flavored extract. You may also infuse with herbs or spices, if desired or add four tablespoons (60 ml) of fruit juice or liqueur while the syrup is cooling. Ingredients:
1/3 cup (2⅔ fl oz/80 ml) (2⅔ oz/75 gm) of sugar, flavored or white
1/3 cup (2⅔ fl oz/80 ml) of waterDirections:

Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan.

Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary, but will not harm the syrup.

Remove the syrup from the heat and cool slightly.

Transfer syrup to a lidded container or jar that can be stored in the refrigerator. Simple syrup can be stored for up to one month.

Line the sides of a 8-inch (20 cm) spring form pan with plastic wrap. Do not line the bottom of the pan.

Cut the cake in half horizontally to form two layers.

Fit the bottom layer into the prepared spring form pan. Moisten the layer evenly with the simple syrup. When the cake has absorbed enough syrup to resemble a squishy sponge, you have enough.

Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of the pan, point side upforming a ring.

Pipe cream in-between strawberries and a thin layer across the top of the cake.

Hull and quarter your remaining strawberries and place them in the middle of the cake. Cover the strawberries and entirely with the all but 1 tbsp. (15 ml) of the pastry cream.

Place the second cake layer on top and moisten with the simple syrup.

Lightly dust a work surface with confectioners' sugar and roll out the almond paste to a 10-inch (25 cm) round 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) thick. Spread the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of pastry cream on the top of the cake and cover with the round of almond paste.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve release the sides of the spring form pan and peel away the plastic wrap.

Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days

This is a lovely fresh cake which I know I will make again and again. It is ideally prepared the day before you want to serve it so it's perfect for entertaining. Thank you Jana for Cherry Tea Cakes - I have a great go-to recipe when asked to bring a sweet for dessert!

Yours came out beautiful!!!!! Mine was nice too but I wish I would of cut the strawberries even size. The cake was so yummy! I had fun making this! Can't wait for the next challenge. I like your pink icing. The almond paste I thought was a bit much and overpowering.

Hi Marcellina, me again:)Thanks for stopping by. About the starfruit, in Brazil you can often find these trees in houses of the suburban areas. It is probably not very hard to buy young trees from farms. I hope you find one and get back to harvesting your own starfruit one day :)

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About Me

From a traditional Italian family I have been cooking, baking and creating all my life. At the moment I am blogging my way through a wonderful cook book "A Baker's Odyssey" by Greg Patent. You can follow me as I take the journey on this cooking adventure. Oh, I will share some of my favourite recipes, too!